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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Fantastic Four Adoption Movie Review

Reed Richards and Ben Grimm have been working together since
they were young children, attempting to create technology that would allow them
to teleport material. They inadvertently reach another dimension, which draws
the attention of Franklin Storm, a professor who has surrounded himself with
young geniuses and nurtures them like a parent. Reed and Ben join with Victor,
an estranged protégé of Storm, and Storm’s son Johnny, to explore the new
world. However, something goes wrong and Victor is left behind, and the others
are changed physically. A year later, they attempt to reenter the other
dimension to get their old bodies back, and they run into Victor, who has survived.
Victor comes back to our world, but he is bent on the destruction of our world.

The Adoption
Connection

Franklin Storm treats his proteges like children. He refers
to them as his family, and the film overtly acknowledges that he has adopted Sue,
who had been born in Kosovo. Although the film barely mentions it, Sue and
Franklin form a transracial family. Reed asks Sue, “Did he adopt you?” Sue
replies that he did. Reed says, “I know what that’s like.” Sue asks, “You were
adopted?” Reed says, “No, I just wish I was. We just don’t understand each
other.” This exchange reminds me of Moonrise Kingdom, where an adopted character
is told by a friend, “You’re lucky you were adopted.” He responds, essentially,
“I love you, but you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Franklin and his children and proteges are involved in the
Baxter Institute. Other members of the Institute view it more as a business,
and speak disparagingly of Franklin’s “little orphanage.”

Strong Points

As a father figure, Franklin is great. He encourages them to
thrive, trusts them explicitly, forgives them when they rebel, shows deep
concern for their well-being, and holds them accountable to their own
potential. Franklin also creates a strong family culture – he makes his kids
promise to take care of each other, and tells one of them that, even though he’s
frustrating, “Johnny is your brother. Like it or not, he’s family, and family
means we take care of each other.” – That speech kind of reminds me of how
family is defined in Lilo and Stitch.

The characters wrestle with the changes that have happened
to them – their lives are altered uncomfortably, but they have improved
abilities. They wonder whether this is something to be overcome, or a change
that has happened for a reason that they should use productively.

Challenges

There is a traumatic scene where one of Franklin’s proteges
is left behind in a perilous situation.

Weak Points

There are some scenes that could be jarring to some viewers.

One character feels displaced, as though he no longer
belongs in the world or with his former family.

(Spoiler alert: One of Franklin’s
sons kills him. There’s no deeper form of rejecting a parent. END SPOILER).

Recommendations

Spoiler alerts in this section:

Franklin is a good father, and a good adoptive father. He
has created a family culture of support and care. He’s one of the better father
figures I’ve seen in film over the last couple years. However, he’s killed by
one of the kids he’s loved as his own, and basically disintegrates on screen,
in front of his other kids. If it isn’t a traumatic scene for younger kids with
parental loss issues, it’ll only be because it’s not particularly realistic.
Fantastic Four introduces several relational conflicts, but doesn’t resolve
many of them. This might be an entertaining film for some viewers between the
ages of 13-17, but it’s probably too scary for some younger kids, and won’t
entertain most adults.

Similar Films

In the X-Men film, other characters also wrestle with
deciding whether their differences are blessings or curses.

Questions for
Discussion

Sue tells Reed that everyone has patterns that makes them
somewhat predictable. Do you agree?

What patterns do you notice in your
parents? Your teachers? Your friends? Yourself?

The Chinese character for crisis combines two symbols –
danger and opportunity. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, how do
you decide whether it’s a danger to run from, or an opportunity to carefully explore?